Apparatus for extracting products from wood.



* 1 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE mnnnnrciz Porn, on MoUNT'PLEAsA'N'T, enoncra, ASSIGNOR TO SOUTHERN MANUF r-Ac'rURrNe COMPANY, onrrr'rsnune, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION or PENN- SYIZVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

szrrann'rus FOR xrnncrme r'nonuc'rs' F'RoM woom Application-filed October 6, 1909. Feria1.-No.'521,394

Q 1b oal llwhom it may concerns Be it known that I, Fnnonnion Porn, a v resident of Mount P1easant,in the county of Wayne and State of Georgia, have-inventeda new and: useful Improvement in' Apparatus for Extractin Products-from Wood, of

which the following. is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for in extracting products from wood,: and more products may be extracted from the woodin particularly toapparatus for distilling. co-. ni ferous woods, such as pine wood, for. the

purpose of extracting therefrom spirits of turpentine,. pine oil, resinund other volatile-productsl i ,Tliegeneral object of the inventionis to provide apparatus circulating allot bath over'the wood'andby means of which the greater quantities, withv less waste, at less 00st,: and more conveniently than inprior apparatus,- and-Without injuringfthe fiber of a the wood.

The specific object of this invention is to provide 3 apparatus ofsimple construction, wherebya substantially uniform temperature can be maintainedin' the wood chamber or vessel to thereby secure a large yield oi I products from the woodas well as avoiding injuring the fiber ofthewood, and whereby loss ofheat from the circulating bath is prevented and the temperature of the bath and combined products is maintained during from the bathall-of'the products which separation ordistilling in order to recover have beenextracted from the-wood. V

Generally stated, the' invention comprises .--a-vessel or retort divided into two compartrnehtsttdwit, a lower compartment in which the, wood is treated with a bath, and an up per compartment for receiving' the bath and "combined'- products from the wood com art: 1 nient' and 1n which-superheated steam 1s mt'roduced for separating the products from the bath, together with the necessary heatlng and circulating apparatumall as will hereinafter be more ful y described and claimed.

In theaccompanying drawings Figure 1 is a'diagrammatic view representing the api atug'Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale through the retort; and Fig; 3 is a transverse section through .the The principal new: 'ortion ofthe' apparatus comprises a suita 1e retort or vessel 1,

a which is divided by partition 2 into'a-lower Patented-Jan. 24,1911.

compartment3rin-which the wood is-treated w th the bath, and an upper compartment 4 in which the extracted products are separated from the bath; The vessel may be constructed in any suitable way and in the drawings the details of construction are not illustrated. Communication between compartments 3' and 4 is provided directly through the partition 2 by means of one or more pipes or sleeve members 5 projecting u into'the compartment 2 above. the level of tho-bath contained therein. Each coinmunicationis provided witha suitable valve 6 whereby the opening may be restricted more or less in order to maintain and regulate pressure in the compartment 3.

Theupper portion of separating com art- I ment 4: is-of hood or dome shape, and cading therefromis a pipe 7 leading to the condenser -8' which-maybe of any suitable form and in which the volatile roducts are condensed. In the bottom 0? compartment 4 are perforated pipes 9 connected to a suitable source of steam, not shown, which steam willbe superheated to a high degree, as by the heater 10.

maintain in; said compartment a suitable depth'of bath. Directly over the inlet ipe 5 is a deflector 12 for splaying or spreading out the bath in a thin sheet. The inlet for An overflow pipe 11 leads from compartment .4 at such height as to I,

the bath is at 13 through the bottom of the compartment 3, and is covered by the perforated strainer plate 14.

V The compartment 3 is of sufficient size to provide for the entry thereinto, of cars 15 in or on which the wood to be treated is contained. Preferably the wood compartment 3 will be of considerable length, as shown in Fig. 2, the cars entering through one end which is then closed by means of door 16, andmay be withdrawn through the same end or through the opposite end which .willbe closed by a similar door. Inlets 13 for the bath are rovided at intervals in the bottom of this. ong retort. The compartment 3' is continuous from end to end, but

the hoods and separating chambers are divided so as to provide a plurality of hoods and separating chambers, as shown inFig. 2. The wood compartment is continuous so that the cars-with wood can be run into and out of the same, but in orderto divide the I v I same somewhat and get a more direct circulation of the'bath upwardly through the wood I provide movable division plates 17,'

' which are placed between certain of the cars containing the wood so as to come substantially atthe points of division between the hoods or separating compartments 4:. These plates are shown secured directly to the ends of the cars, so that when the cars are run into and out of the wood compartment the division plates are carried with them. Gonsequently, the loath entering through the botever, may be substantially as heretofore used. As shown, the overflow pipe 11 leads from the retort to a storage reservoir 20 under which may be provided agrate in order to heat the material for the bath when the apparatus is first started. From the storage reservoir 20 a pipe 22 leads to a heating coil 23 in a suitable furnace 24 and from the latter a pipe 25 leads to the inlet 13 of the retort. Pump 26 is provided between the storage tank and the heater in order to circulatethe fluid. A valve 27 is provided in the pipe 25 at the inlet to the retort and a by-pass pipe'28 provided with valve 29 connects the pipe 25-directly with the storage tank. A drainage pipe 30 provided with valve 31 connects the bottom of the retort with the storage tank, and a drainage opening 32 which may be provided with a valve connects the separating chamber 4 with wood chamber 3. One or'more heaters, storage tanks andpumps may be provided for the large retort shown. Preferably, two or more heaters, pumps, etc, will be employed. 5

The operation of the apparatus described is as follows: Cars loaded with the wood to be treated are run into the wood chamber 3, the division plates 17 being placed between certain cars to divide the wood chamher as above described. The door 16 is thep tightly sealed. The material for the bat is placed in stora ge tank 20 either in a molten condition or it may be melted and mixed therein, and when melted, pump 22 is started and circulates the bath through the apparatus. In this position valves 31 and 29 are closed and valves 27 open, and valve 6 opened to the necessary extent to secure the desired pressure. The hot bath circulated by the pump fills the'wood chamber 3 and then rises up through passages 5 into the separating chamber 1, entering the latter two communications under considerable pressure and striking the deflectors 12 and splayed thereby. The bath accumulates in chamber 4 until it reaches the height of outlet opening 11 and then flows into storage reservoir 20, whence it is again drawn by the pump and forced through the wood compartment. Steam superheated'substantially to the temperature of the bath (and this may vary from 300 degrees to 360 degrees Fahrenheit) is introduced through pipes 9 and passes up separates therefrom the volatile products, and also agitates the bath and thus aids through the bath andmechanically in the separation. The separated products pass through pipe 7 and condenser 8 where they are condensed; After the woodhas been subjected to the action of the bath for the necessary length of time the valve 27 is closed, and valves 29 and 31 are opened. The pump continues inoperation, but the circulation now is fromthe storage tanlc through the pump, through pipes 25 and by-pass pipe 28 to the storage tank. The bath in the wood chamber is drained out through drainage pipe 3Q, being strained through plate 14; The bath in the separatingchamber need not be drained therefrom unless desired, in which event the v valve in drainage opening 32 will be opened. When the bath has been entirely drained from the retort the door 16 is opened, the cars containin the wood are run out, and cars loaded with a fresh supply of wopd run into the wood chamber, when the for'el i going operation will be repeated.

Various forms of bath may be used in this apparatus, either a rosin bath, or a,

bath consisting of tar, pine. oil and the residuum left by the fractional distillation of the products obtained by this process, like that described in my Patent No. 852,078, of April 30, 1907, or a bath whose principal elements are pitch and pine oil, such as described in my application filed May 16, 1908, Serial No. 433,230. Preferably the bath will be ofa nature which can be heated up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit without injury to itself.

The steam used in the separating vessel will be superheated substantially to the temper,

.' ature of the bath used so as to avoid cooling the bath either in the separating chamber or in the upper portion of the wood chamber, and insures thatall of the extracted products remain in the bath in gaseous form so that they will separate therefrom.

The partition 2 is only a thin wall, and

consequently the temperature in the wood" chamber is communicated to the separating chamber, thus assisting in maintaining the portion of the bath in the separating chamber at 'thenecessary high temperature to prevent condensation of any of the extracted products in the bath. This is of very great advantage, as it enables practicall all of the products which are extracted om the wood to be recovered. The steam, however,

, does not come in contact with the wood, be-

ing prevented from contact by the partition 2, and consequently the fiber of the wood is not injured.

The apparatus is simple, doing in a single divi ed 'vessel what has heretofore required two separate Vessels. The connecting piping heretofore necessary is-entirely omitand there is practically no loss of heat. What 'I claim is:

1. Apparatus for extractin products from wood compr sing a vessel divided into two compartments, one for cowtaining the wood to be treated with a bath and the other for separating the products from the bath,

' connection between the two compartments,

Y means for circulating the bath between the two compartments, and means for heating.

the bath on its way back to the wood compartment.

2. Apparatus for extracting products from wood comprising a vessel divided into two compartments, a lower compartment for containing the wood to be treated with a bath and an upper compartment for separating the extracted products from the bath,

- connections between the two compartments,

means for circulating the bath from the separating compartment back to the wood compartment, and means for heating the bath on its way back to the wood compartment.

3. Apparatus for extractin r from wood comprising a vessel 5 two compartments, one for containin the products ivided into woodto be treated with a bath and the other for separating the products from the bath, connections between the two compartments, means for circulating the bath from the separating compartment back to the wood compartment, means for heating the bath on its way back to the wood compart- -wood compartment.

ment, and connections between the wood compartment and the separating compart ment arranged to malntam pressure in the 4. Apparatus for extracting products from wood comprising a vessel divided by a partition into two com artments, a lower compartment for containing the wood to be treated with a bath and an uppercompartment for separating the products from the wood, a pipe leading through said partition and projecting upwardly into the upper compartment, an overflow pipe from said from wood comprising avessel two compartments, :1. lower compartment, for receivmg the wood to be treated w th;

6.Apparat1is for extracting products,

a bath and an upper separating compartment, a communication between said compartments, means for circulating and heating the bath perforated steam pipes in the bottom of the upper compartment, and a source of superheated steam for said pipes.

7. Apparatus for extracting products from wood comprising a chamber arranged to receive the wood to be treated with a bath, a pluralit of hoods over said wood chamber, movab e partition plates arranged ded into to divide the wood compartments at the lines of separation of adjacent hoods, an inlet for the bath into the bottom of the wood chamber, an outlet for the bath from each of the hoods, means for circulating the bath up through said chamber and hoods, and means for heating the bath on its way back to the wood chamber. i

8. Apparatus for extracting products from wood comprising a vessel divide by a partition into a lower chamber for containing the wood to be treated and a series of upper chambers for separating the products from the bath, movable divislon plates for separating the Woodchamber into compartments to correspond with the separatmg chambers, communications between the wood chamber and each of the separatin chambers, and -means for.,circu1at1ng and heating the.bath. p

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

FREDERICK POPE. Witnesses:

F. W. WINTER, JAS. L. WELDON. 

